Grade 12 Provincial Mathematics Results Improve

Nova Scotia's Grade 12 mathematics examination results are improving.

Student performance in both Advanced Mathematics 12 and Mathematics 12 improved significantly over last year's results according to provincial examination results released today, July 3, for 2007 and 2008.

The average mark for Advanced Mathematics in 2008 was 61 per cent, a three-point increase from last year. The number of students who passed the exam also rose significantly to 71 per cent, up from 64 per cent in 2007.

About 2,450 anglophone students wrote math exams in January and June of 2008.

Francophone students also showed improvement in 2008. The average mark in Mathématiques avancées was 67 per cent, up from 64 per cent in 2007. Ninety per cent of students passed the exam, an improvement of 18 points over last year. Forty-nine students wrote Mathématiques avancées.

"Increasing student success in mathematics is one of our top priorities, so it is encouraging to see improvement in high school mathematics this year," said Education Minister Karen Casey.

The improvement in advanced math courses was also mirrored in Mathematics 12 and Mathématiques 12, the academic courses written by 3,832 anglophone and francophone students.

The provincial average for Mathematics 12 was 51 per cent this year, up from 39 per cent in both 2007 and 2006. Half of students who wrote the exam passed, a significant improvement over each of the last two years when about a quarter passed.

"I want to congratulate students, teachers and school boards for their hard work and their focus on doing well in these exams," said Ms. Casey.

"Although these results show promise, there is no question that we still have much more work to do to better support students and teachers in this subject area," she said.

Francophone students who wrote the Mathématiques 12 this year showed improvement overall, but many still struggle. Forty-three per cent of the 82 students who wrote the exam passed. The average mark was 48 per cent, compared with 43 cent in 2007.

Ms. Casey said the province will continue to target resources at improving students' understanding of math through the provincial math strategy. In the strategy, schools have increased the amount of time spent on math, added math mentors and math leaders to help guide teachers in every school board, and increased course options at high schools.

Students are also taking advantage of more learning resources that have been made available, including new textbooks in junior high, a high-quality study guide to help Grade 12 students write provincial math exams, and an online question bank that allows teachers and students to become familiar with the type of questions they can expect on the exams.

The department has increased opportunities for professional development for junior and senior high math teachers to improve the quality of instruction. Steps have also been taken to introduce prerequisites for all high school math courses so more students are placed in courses where they can expect to achieve success.

This year, 39 per cent of students who wrote provincial math exams took Advanced Mathematics, a course designed for the top 20 per cent of high school math students. That compares with 44 per cent who wrote the exam in 2007.

Two Grade 10 courses, Mathematics 10 Plus and Mathematics Foundations 10 Plus, have been developed to provide students with 220-hour, year-long instruction -- doubling the amount of class time -- to help fill in any gaps in learning. Resources have also been developed to help Mathematics 10 teachers to increase students' skills in algebra.

The department has also launched a review of the mathematics curriculum to make sure what is taught at each grade level is developmentally appropriate. The review will examine whether to narrow outcomes at each grade so students have more time to develop a greater depth of understanding of the essential concepts.

Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have announced they will also revise math curriculum.

"There is no quick fix," said Ms Casey. "Continually improving our math results from Primary to Grade 12 is a long-term project."

Nova Scotia examination results for 2007 were also released for Grade 12 English, English/communications, and physics. Grade 12 exams are worth 30 per cent of each student's final mark. They received their individual marks shortly after writing the exams.

Results are available at www.ednet.ns.ca . A complete summary of Nova Scotia examinations, as well as results from provincial assessments for grades 3, 6 and 9, will be available later this summer in the Minister's Report to Parents.